Turkey's main opposition presidential candidate conceded defeat on Monday in an election he described as "unjust" and warned that the country was entering a dangerous regime of one-man rule.
Muharrem Ince, the candidate from the Republican People's Party (CHP), was addressing a news conference in Ankara a day after President Tayyip Erdogan won 52.5 percent of the vote in the presidential race. Ince won 31 percent. Ince said he accepted the election results, noting there was no significant difference between the official figures and those collated by his own party. The CHP and international rights groups have complained about what they see as unequal campaign conditions in Turkey.
Erdogan, 64, the most popular - yet divisive - leader in Turkey's modern history, told jubilant, flag-waving supporters there would be no retreat from his drive to transform the country, a deeply polarised nation that is both a NATO member and, at least nominally, a candidate to join the European Union.He is loved by millions of devoutly Muslim working class Turks for delivering years of stellar economic growth and overseeing the construction of roads, bridges, airports, hospitals and schools.
But his critics, including human rights groups, accuse him of destroying the independence of the courts and media freedoms. A crackdown launched after a failed 2016 coup has seen 160,000 people including teachers, journalists and judges detained. Erdogan and the AK Party claimed victory in Sunday's presidential and parliamentary elections after defeating a revitalised opposition that had gained considerable momentum recently and looked capable of staging an upset.
"It is out of the question for us to turn back from where we've brought our country in terms of democracy and the economy," Erdogan said on Sunday night.
With virtually all votes counted, Erdogan took 53 percent against Ince's 31 percent, while in the parliamentary vote the AKP took 42.5 percent and its MHP nationalist allies secured 11 percent, outstripping expectations.
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